Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) : ready for something different?

Recently speech-language pathologists in medical and educational settings spoke about situations that provoke burn-out. As one put it, "I'm swamped with paperwork!" With fewer providers, more paperwork and more productivity expected, they feel overwhelmed. Does this describe you as well? There are other professional roles for speech-language pathologists than as direct service providers. Some SLPs become supervisors, while others serve as trainers for equipment that SLPs and their clients may use. Some SLPs train other SLPs in a variety of fields, or work with communicatively-impaired clients in non-traditional ways. Alternative Career Options for Speech-Language Pathologists by Katie Schwartz is a book which describes the choices 18 SLPs made to combine speech with some other field. (The book is also appropriate for OTs, PTs, and special educators.) Each chapter covers the choice made by one SLP or team of SLPs that chose to work together. Readers will learn the process of that change, what the person decided to do, and the positives and negatives of that choice, as well as how to get started in that field. Even if the reader is not interested in those choices, learning what others have done can help to spark new ideas in the reader's mind. There is also a chapter on a self-assessment questionnaire that the reader can use, to help him or her consider appropriate choices. Additional career options are mentioned here briefly as well. To get this book, click here (and scroll to the bottom of the page).